CALHOUN RESTS ON "POCKETS OF GOLD" - Will Meek Inherit The Wealth?

The deepest well ever drilled in West Virginia is in Calhoun, an experimental well drilled to a depth of 20,222 feet in 1974 between the Mt. Zion Ridge and Pine Creek.

The deep well drilling "boom" has yet to happen in the county, with reports saying the couple of holes that have been drilled were not good producers. One company, Ardent, went bankrupt.

At least 200 deep well permits were issued for the county, not drilled.

Most all of the drilling has been done under 15,000 feet.

What lies below may well be the state's treasure trove in this century.

Calhoun, among other counties, is likely sitting on one of the east coast's biggest deposits of natural gas, yet to be extracted.

Unfortunately, Calhoun, one of America's 100 poorest counties, will benefit little from the extraction.

With a century of complicated maneuvering by the extractors, supported by politicians, legislators and their rule making, there is little reward for local stakeholders.

Despite all the controversy about the $4+ million verdict against Chesapeake Energy, regional courthouses are busy places, with agents seeking royalty and preparing permits.

Since the settlement that affected their pocketbooks, Chesapeake Energy, the nation's third largest gas producer, has variously threatened to leave the state, saying they will not build a promised multi-million dollar office complex in Charleston, but maybe they will.

That issue was over charging production costs to the owners of royalty.

The WV legislature has approved measures that delay the reporting of production, and therefore taxing.